Minimally invasive medicine, the practice of gaining access to a body vessel, duct, or organ using a guiding member to facilitate the subsequent introduction of other medical devices, has been evolving since the Seldinger technique was first popularized during the 1950's and 1960's. In contemporary medicine, self-expandable intraluminal medical devices are frequently used in a variety of minimally invasive procedures. For example, self-expandable stents are used to provide support to various vessels and ducts in the circulatory and the gastrointestinal systems. Also, prosthetic valves and other intraluminal devices are gaining popularity as tools for supplementing and/or replacing natural valves in a variety of locations within the body, such as veins and the heart and its associated vessels.
When placing medical devices within a body vessel, it may be desirable to provide a protective device that can capture any solid mass, e.g., an embolus, that may travel through the circulation during the procedure. Permanent or semi-permanent filters can be implanted in a downstream location, such as within the inferior vena cava to provide the desired protection. Also, filters or other structures associated with a delivery system can be used to provide distal protection during and/or after a procedure.
As this field of health care continues to advance there is a need for improved methods and devices for use in these important techniques. There is a distinct need for delivery systems that offer distal protection features, especially delivery systems adapted for placement of self-expandable intraluminal medical devices.